Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash
Gary owns an engineering service, with sixty-five employees. He struggled to minimise re-work, overdue project delivery and costs.
As an introvert he also struggled to confront and work with the people involved, preferring to work out the issues himself.
Gary was very stressed, preventing him from thinking clearly.
His wife recommended an executive coach she’d met at a networking function, and Gary called him in.
The coach interviewed Gary then met with other members of his staff to understand the situation.
The coach recommended a half-day workshop for all staff, working from the top down, with about twenty staff per session.
The workshop covered only two topics – effective delegation and effective debriefing.
Effective Delegation
A major cause of under-performance and undesirable productivity is ineffective delegation.
A thorough system of delegation covering all aspects including responsibilities, authorities, accountabilities and consequences, all of which are understood by both the people delegating and those being delegated to, ensures clarity.
When all members understand all the components of delegation and the rationale behind the delegation, then questioning for clarity by all members is empowered.
Effective Debriefing
A major lost opportunity to improve is the absence of debriefing or ineffective debriefing, where effective debriefing is most often the highest point of learning.
Debriefing occurs after each phase and after completion.
Blameless, thorough, early (hot debrief) and then considered debriefing, regardless of outcome, empowers the team to improve, celebrate and innovate.
Again, all members understand the debriefing process and the rationale behind it.
Crucial questions most often overlooked in debriefing are:
- Where was the fear and where was the courage?
- Where were the habits and where was the better practice?
- Where was the ignorance and where was the application of better knowledge?
After the workshop, Gary and his people, facilitated by the coach, designed custom templates for the business for delegation and debriefing.
Rapid improvement in performance and productivity was experienced within the first month.
After three months, Gary’s stress had disappeared and he felt the culture was also improving, becoming more positive.
At the six-month mark, the coach conducted a brief survey seeking staff opinion about the state of the culture and what was working.
The survey result showed staff felt the culture had improved, people felt less stressed and that communication was much better throughout the business.
The results told the best story. Re-work had dropped by 73%, projects were delivered on time and costs were largely contained, with further opportunity for improvement being identified and implemented regularly.
To what extent are you paying attention to the quality of delegation and debriefing in your business?
If you’d like help with this, email me to see if we can work together to improve delegation and debriefing in your business.
